From the Bookshelf of SOS: Serious Overload of Series…

Midnight Crossroad (Midnight, Texas, #1)

Charlaine Harris

Start date: July 1, 2014

Finish date: July 31, 2014

Discussion: Book of the Month

Why we're reading this: Voted as our "Most Popular Books Published in May 2014" July BOM …more
[close] Voted as our "Most Popular Books Published in May 2014" July BOM

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 14 topics — 259 comments total

Book of the Month

This topic has been closed to new comments.

* BOM: Group Read History [2025]
By Steph , Serious series addict · 10 posts · 22 views

last updated Sep 27, 2025 10:28PM

* BOM: Comments & Suggestions
By Steph , Serious series addict · 38 posts · 229 views

last updated Mar 15, 2012 06:15PM

showing 10 of 50 topics view all »

What Members Thought

May 21, 2014 Chelsea rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, suggested-series-firsts, uf-pnr, magic

This review was originally posted at title="Vampire Book Club">Vampire Book Club.

I was a long-time fan of the Sookie Stackhouse series. I stuck with it though all thirteen books. That’s a long series, and over the course of the series my engagement was driven by the love of the characters and the desire for plot resolution. Normal stuff.

This May, though, there wasn’t my usual Sookie release. Instead there was a new novel in a new series set in Texas, and I had to decide if I was ready to dive b ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Sep 14, 2017 Diane ~Firefly~ rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: uf, paranormal, kindle, magic, vampires

I started watching the TV show before reading this, so the big surprise, wasn't a surprise. It was interesting to see the similarities and differences. So far I think I like the show better, but that might be because I saw it first. Also Manfred seems more powerful in the show.

The plot was interesting as were the characters, although you only learn a couple secrets in the first book. I'm looking forward to finding out more about the residents of Midnight. ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Apr 30, 2014 Cee rated it liked it

Shelves: adult-fiction, paranormal, vampires, mystery, contemporary

The last few books I read by Charlaine Harris have been subpar. The final books in the Sookie Stackhouse series showed the author losing her stride. At least in this new series featuring a new cast of characters, Ms Harris rediscovered her enthusiasm for writing, even though it's not quite yet of the standard of some of her other works.

Manfred Bernardo, a character we know from the Harper Connelly series, is now starring in his own series. Manfred moves to Midnight, a tiny town in the middle of The last few books I read by Charlaine Harris have been subpar. The final books in the Sookie Stackhouse series showed the author losing her stride. At least in this new series featuring a new cast of characters, Ms Harris rediscovered her enthusiasm for writing, even though it's not quite yet of the standard of some of her other works.

Manfred Bernardo, a character we know from the Harper Connelly series, is now starring in his own series. Manfred moves to Midnight, a tiny town in the middle of nowhere in Texas. Not a single one of its inhabitants asks him why he moved there - it seems like everyone living in Midnight has something to hide.

Midnight Crossing sees the return of one of Ms Harris' staples: the small southern town. Midnight is almost a character in itself. A lot of time is spent outlining its quirky inhabitants - and they are quirky. Names of the Midnightians include Fiji, Bobo, Creek, and Lamuel. I've honestly never met any people named this strangely, but that might just be because I've never visited any small Texas towns.

I'm not completely sure in what genre Midnight Crossing is supposed to fall. Although there is a mystery at the heart of the book, it takes a very long time to develop, and there is very little actual sleuthing or piecing together of clues going on. The mystery almost seems to resolve itself. The people of Midnight go through the motions, and at one point an answer presents itself. This didn't necessarily bother me, but it would disappoint anyone looking for a good mystery to get immersed into.

This isn't so much Manfred's book as it is a book for all of Midnight. He isn't the shining star in the story - for me Fiji, the local witch, is. We spend quite some time in the heads of other Midnight residents besides Manfred. There is a slight touch of the paranormal to Midnight Crossing, but there is none of the paranormal world building we saw in the Sookie Stackhouse series. Manfred's psychic powers only manifest themselves once, when he receives a vision that is hardly relevant to the plot. I really wish we could see more of his powers, because they always intrigued me when he was still just playing second fiddle in a different series.

Though Ms Harris largely seems to have found her inner muse again, her writing is still slightly awkward. Armed with conventional wisdoms and cringe-worthy frankness, she writes gems such as:

After five minutes, Manfred forgot that Joe and Chuy were men who had sex with each other. Instead, he was able to revel in the happy discovery that Chuy was a very good cook and that Joe kept a stock of excellent beer in his refrigerator.

In my opinion that first sentence should have never made its way into print. If the author can stay away from these less-than-stellar pieces of wisdom, Midnight Crossroad is quite enjoyable. ...more

Like · see review